I will be applying this year for 2012 entry on the Postgraduate Program. In fact I just booked an appointment today with the Careers Service to go through my Personal Statement!!

I think I'll be applying to Reading (my first choice ), Sheffield, Essex, Newcastle and maybe a London based one. Does anyone know if you have to pay to apply through the individual unis?

I've just graduated from Manchester in Spanish and Psychology with a 2.1 and in terms of my experience this is what I've done:
- I spent a year abroad in Spain working as an English Language Assistant in a primary school.
- I volunteered for 6 months at Manchester Deaf Centre and at a Deaf School shadowing the SLT.
- I've spent the day shadowing a SLT who works with children.
- Spent the day with a HeadForward group (charity for people who have had Traumatic Brain Injuries)
And now I'm working full-time in the NHS as a Support Worker in the community with Adults with Learning Disabilities.
I really hope that I have enough relevant experience!!

Anyone else going for the Masters route? Anyone any thoughts about the Reading MSc?
x

(Original post by PhoenixFortune)
When I applied, Marjon didn't interview or give out questionnaires, so I can't really help you!

Okay, cheers. Btw I found this from an earlier thread, quoting you:

Marjons is supposed to be a really sloppy course...lots of work but hardly any time to do dissertations and projects...one of the SLTs I did work experience with went there and she said she really regrets it now.

(Original post by Spence_LJS)
Okay, cheers. Btw I found this from an earlier thread, quoting you:

What made you change your mind about Marjons?

The SLT I was with did the MSc Advanced SLT that Marjon used to offer, but they don't now for the reasons I said before in the other thread. I didn't realise I hadn't specified. Marjon is my most local uni to do SLT, so it was always an option for me.

(Original post by PhoenixFortune)
The SLT I was with did the MSc Advanced SLT that Marjon used to offer, but they don't now for the reasons I said before in the other thread. I didn't realise I hadn't specified. Marjon is my most local uni to do SLT, so it was always an option for me.

Ahh good, 'cause Marjon is looking like a potential for me. Mind if I ask a few more questions? How many hours a week do you have lectures? Do you have to do a dissertation? Are the placements organised in blocks or weekly sessions?

Is this your first degree? Do you know anyone who is doing it as a second degree - if yes, where do they tend to live (i.e. are they in 'post-grad' halls, or general undergrad halls?). What's the best accommodation?

Sorry for so many questions, feel free to ignore as many of them as you like! haha. Cheers.

(Original post by Spence_LJS)
How many hours a week do you have lectures?

During an average week, we have about 19 contact hours.

Do you have to do a dissertation?

Yes, during Year 3.

Are the placements organised in blocks or weekly sessions?

Block placements in Years 1 and 4, and concurrent placements in Years 2 and 3.

Is this your first degree?

Yes.

Do you know anyone who is doing it as a second degree -

About a quarter of my class (12 people out of 40) already have a degree in an unrelated subject, so couldn't get onto one of the very competitive masters courses.

if yes, where do they tend to live (i.e. are they in 'post-grad' halls, or general undergrad halls?).

There aren't any post-grad halls at Marjon, as they don't even have enough to house all the first-years! They tend to live at home if they are local enough, or rent a flat in the city like I do (I didn't want to stay in halls). 2 of the 12 lived in the Village (small houses on campus), but they said it was always so noisy and wouldn't have stayed there in hindsight.

What's the best accommodation?

There are six blocks of halls on campus, and a newly built private halls block which was built this year just off campus. the six blocks are all the same, except one has a few ensuite rooms for those with exceptional circumstances. You can't choose which block you get put in, you just put what kind of room you want. The Village is a complex of 39 houses that house 6 people each with shared facilities, and this area is generally considered quieter than halls but is more sought-after and is generally given to international students.

(Original post by PhoenixFortune)
During an average week, we have about 19 contact hours.

Yes, during Year 3.

Block placements in Years 1 and 4, and concurrent placements in Years 2 and 3.

Yes.

About a quarter of my class (12 people out of 40) already have a degree in an unrelated subject, so couldn't get onto one of the very competitive masters courses.

There aren't any post-grad halls at Marjon, as they don't even have enough to house all the first-years! They tend to live at home if they are local enough, or rent a flat in the city like I do (I didn't want to stay in halls). 2 of the 12 lived in the Village (small houses on campus), but they said it was always so noisy and wouldn't have stayed there in hindsight.

There are six blocks of halls on campus, and a newly built private halls block which was built this year just off campus. the six blocks are all the same, except one has a few ensuite rooms for those with exceptional circumstances. You can't choose which block you get put in, you just put what kind of room you want. The Village is a complex of 39 houses that house 6 people each with shared facilities, and this area is generally considered quieter than halls but is more sought-after and is generally given to international students.

Thanks for taking the time to answer those for me. Year 4? D'oh, I thought it was a 3 year course... Will go do some more research!

(Original post by PhoenixFortune)
It was increased to a 3.5 year course the year I started. The last half a year is for clinical swallowing training which isn't usually done until after you are qualified, so we get that advantage.

I guess I could cope with a .5 bit longer. So you graduate half a year (or so) earlier than people doing the 4 year course? That's good - you get first dibs at the job market in some way.

I'm applying for 2012 entry. I only made up my mind about that today - I've been uncertain for a while . I need to research my choices more thoroughly, but so far it looks like it's going to be the postgraduate conversion courses at Reading, Sheffield, and City. I will choose a couple of undergraduate courses as back-up options, as I know that competition for postgrad entry is pretty fierce.

(Original post by Spence_LJS)
I guess I could cope with a .5 bit longer. So you graduate half a year (or so) earlier than people doing the 4 year course? That's good - you get first dibs at the job market in some way.

I really love the idea of the extra training, but loads of people in my year really don't want to do it! As 70% of them are mature students, they probably just want to graduate as soon as possible!

Technically we finish early, but our graduation ceremony is with the other students doing 4 year courses. I don't think we can apply for jobs until we are HPC registered, which I don't think is finalised until we officially graduate, so we don't get that much of a head start!

You'll be pleased to hear that my personal statement now has a proper structure, an introduction that actually explains why I want to do it, a much condensed two paragraphs on work experience and a paragraph on my school achievements and personal qualities. It also doesn't have silly mistakes Thankyou!

(Original post by balletomane)
I'm applying for 2012 entry. I only made up my mind about that today - I've been uncertain for a while . I need to research my choices more thoroughly, but so far it looks like it's going to be the postgraduate conversion courses at Reading, Sheffield, and City. I will choose a couple of undergraduate courses as back-up options, as I know that competition for postgrad entry is pretty fierce.

(Original post by juliewho)
You'll be pleased to hear that my personal statement now has a proper structure, an introduction that actually explains why I want to do it, a much condensed two paragraphs on work experience and a paragraph on my school achievements and personal qualities. It also doesn't have silly mistakes Thankyou!

Hiya everyone! I'm really pleased I found this thread, not many people have heard of SLT and I don't get enough chance to talk about how excited I am about it!

I'm Sal. I have one year left at college doing A-Levels (English Lit, Psychology, Sociology and Environmental Science) and have been sure of wanting to do Speech and Language Therapy for a couple years now. My biggest problem now is getting more and more and more (i already have some) relevant work experience, and also choosing which uni I wanna go to! I've narrowed it down to 7 (UEA, Birmingham, DMU, Manchester, Reading, UWIC, QMU) but now am stumped as how to decide! However I'm currently considering UEA and Birmingham more so because they're 3 years and I have a horrible fear of debt, so in my eyes 3 years is one less year of debt than a 4 year course!

Is anyone else using this as a factor? I'm also looking at price of accommodation too, and the price of getting home on holidays (I live in Newcastle)

I'm very excited to start writing my personal statement in September though

(Original post by Spence_LJS)
Sounds good What experience do you have in SLT?

I was a learning support worker in a specialist residential college for teenagers with learning disabilities for two years. We had an in-house speech and language therapist, and I ended up working with her quite closely - I helped to facilitate the weekly Makaton club and I delivered speech and language therapy interventions to small groups of students. That job got me familiar with augmentative methods of communication (PECS, block, etc.) I also run a support group for autistic teenagers on a voluntary basis. I've done that for nearly six years now.